Anxiety
Are you frequently nervous or always worried? Do you find it difficult to fall asleep or experience panic attacks? Is anxiety making it difficult for you to function at work or with your family and friends? Therapy is often very effective in addressing anxiety and stress.
Our “fight or flight” response goes into overdrive when we experience significant levels of anxiety at work, at home, or in our relationships. For many of us, the pandemic created a perfect storm, leading to unprecedented levels of stress. When we get out of balance, it can be difficult to get back on an even keel and balance stress in our lives. Without intervention, anxiety tends to escalate in a cycle of anxiety and avoidance. Getting professional support can be the best way to break the spiral of anxiety.
Check yourself —
5 signs that you need to address anxiety
If you answer yes to one or more of the questions, it is probably time to seek out professional help that can help you get relief from the symptoms of anxiety and start defusing the emotional issues that may be powering your anxiety.
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Do you:
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Feel worried all or much of the time?
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Do colleagues, family, or friends tell you that you often seem nervous or on edge?
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Experience insomnia?
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Have intrusive thoughts?
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Overreact or seem overly sensitive?
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Experience panic attacks (1 or more)?
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Feel that you are “holding in” a lot of emotions?
What you can expect in therapy for anxiety
In therapy, we will work on helping you get short-term relief while also addressing the underlying emotional issues that feed your anxiety. Often, clients start feeling more relaxed and more confident after just three or fours sessions. Working together, our goal is that your life after therapy should feel easier, less catastrophic. You can feel less stressed, more grounded, more content, more in control, and more confident.
Therapy may include using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to develop coping skills and practical techniques that you can use in your everyday life. Typically, we will go behind CBT in order to help you build a more sustained and deeper recovery from anxiety. You will become more aware of your thoughts and symptoms while learning effective ways to shrink or minimize the triggers that inudce stress.
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Often, clients find that EMDR or hypnotherapy can help in recovery, even if other approaches that you tried in the past may not have been effective for you.
